Mamdani hit with fed lawsuit over city-run grocery stores

By Chris Wade
The Center Square

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani's plans to create a chain of government-run grocery stores are facing another lawsuit claiming the move is illegal. 

In the lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court on Wednesday, lawyers for the National Supermarket Association and a group of New York grocery store owners allege that the administration's plan to roll out five city-funded stores would undercut local competitors, in violation of federal antitrust laws.

The plaintiffs ask a federal judge to rule that the government-run stores violate federal antitrust laws and block Mamdani's plan for the stores to sell items at discounts of up to 30% off retail prices.

"A tax-supported discount designed to undercut competitors is precisely the type of predatory pricing scheme prohibited by the Nation's antitrust laws," the plaintiffs wrote in the complaint. 

The association, which represents 450 independent grocery stores in New York City, filed the complaint with the America First Policy Institute, a conservative nonprofit chaired by Larry Kudlow, President Donald Trump’s former senior economic advisor.

The lawsuit comes two weeks after a group of New York City bodega owners sued the Mamdani administration in state court over his proposed government-run grocery chains, claiming it would hurt immigrant and minority-owned businesses. 

The Multicultural Business Coalition, a nonprofit group that represents hundreds of small businesses, filed the lawsuit in state Supreme Court alleging that the Mamdani administration doesn't have the legal authority to create the stores. The outcome of that case is still pending. 

Mamdani's push to open city-run grocery stores was a campaign promise for the democratic socialist, whose far-left agenda also includes plans for universal childcare, tuition-free community colleges, and free bus service.

Under the mayor's plans, which will require City Council approval, the stores wouldn't pay rent or property taxes, allowing them to keep their overhead costs down and pass on savings to shoppers, according to the Mamdani administration. 

The $70 million initiative calls for hiring a private operator to run the stores under the city's pricing rules. The first store is scheduled to open next year in the Bronx neighborhood of Hunts Point, according to City Hall.

A Mamdani spokesperson dismissed the lawsuit and claimed that the plan to create the government-run grocery stores will survive the new legal challenge. 

"By the end of the mayor's first term, every borough will have a high-quality, affordable grocery store that New Yorkers can count on," the statement said.